Impact case study database

The impact of Herbert’s research has evolved over many years, coming to a culmination from 2016. It is underpinned by the belief that art should be integral to the ongoing life of those who live at Westpark. While key stakeholders, including Darlington Borough Council, recognise that ‘Westpark’s arts strategy gives residents a meaningful connection to place that could not be achieved otherwise’ ( IMP7), the primary focus of this case study is on the organisational impacts of Herbert’s research in generating business innovation in North-East based construction companies:

1. Integrating a text-based arts strategy into residential property development company B&A via the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (2016-18), creating a unique selling point that connects residents more closely to the cultural, industrial and ecological context of their environs; and

2. Enabling the uptake of the strategy, via Darlington Borough Council, by other construction companies, including Elliston, Steady & Hawes (ESH), Gentoo and Thirteen.

1. Impact on Bussey & Armstrong

Herbert’s arts strategy has enabled B&A to realise its ambition, which dated back to the company’s acquisition of the derelict land, ‘for true innovation in community development’.

A key aim of the 2016-18 Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with B&A was ‘to develop themes, text and sculptural pieces in the new areas that build on the established language and imagery of Westpark’ ( IMP1). Herbert’s design principles for the expanded development of Westpark Garden Village have responded to the new site, which ‘borders on three areas of historical importance to Darlington: the medieval villages of Archdeacon Newton and Whessoe, and a site [in Whessoe Parish] where Romano-British remains have been discovered’ ( IMP2). Herbert’s text-based arts plan built on the first phase of the Westpark development, which centred on the industrial history of Darlington, to explore how the region has been experienced as home by people settling there from the Roman era to the present.

The embedding of the arts strategy throughout Westpark has led to an enhanced sense of place and community among the residents. The ‘Art in Westpark Report’ highlighted that in a resident focus group all participants felt the positive effects of the arts features in joining up the built environment with its immediate historical and geographical setting, providing what one resident calls ‘a sense of permanence. They are robust and meaningful … connecting Westpark to the surrounding areas’ ( IMP3). It was the capacity of the poetry to change people’s relationship to their location that was identified by B&A as constituting the value of the arts strategy to the company: ‘it was recognised that what perhaps differentiated Westpark and B&A from our competitors was not simply the arts strategy, but how that strategy spoke to a larger sense of care and investment in the community on the part of the developer.’ ( IMP4).

Using insights gained from the KTP, the importance of the arts strategy was used by B&A to ‘inform design, marketing and the company’s digital profile’ ( IMP4). Herbert’s artwork in the residential areas of Westpark has taken the form of naming all the streets and placing short couplets on each street sign. Each area of housing has a separate theme, relating to the history of Darlington and the surrounding area. This unique approach to the street names, which contrasts with the customary practice whereby a company’s sales and marketing teams would produce a list of anonymous names that might have little or no association with the site on which the houses were built, has been foregrounded in the marketing materials for Westpark, contributing to the company’s branding and identity. The materials explain that Herbert is ‘lead poet for the text used throughout the project’, which together comprises ‘one of the largest public art projects in Britain’ and is ‘grounded in a local history that changed the world’ ( IMP5).

A second key aim of the KTP was ‘to embed into B&A a permanent capability in how best to implement an arts strategy into their future developments’ ( IMP1). This was achieved through the reorganisation of the company as the arts strategy was embedded at all levels of its operations. In particular, the implementation of the strategy led to ‘the evolution of job roles, due to its impact on B&A design principles, digital presence and marketing strategies’. It enabled ‘all branches of the company to work more cohesively and effectively, with sales, marketing and development teams more closely united in their aims’. Moreover, a greater awareness of the impact of its work in the community and its uniqueness amongst current developers has produced ‘a greater sense of pride in the company and its projects’ at all levels ( IMP4).

The Director of B&A has recognised the commercial benefits of Herbert’s research to the company, noting that the distinctiveness of the offer means that ‘in February 2017 the average asking price for a Westpark home was GBP209 per square foot, whereas the average asking price of the closest competitor was GBP190 per square foot’ ( IMP6). The KTP has enabled B&A to identify its impact on residents’ sense of belonging and well-being, which are important alongside the financial impacts. Both dimensions are included in the company’s new publicity, marketing and branding strategies, which have been rewritten to ‘strengthen this narrative’ and reflect on how ‘those factors can be maximised to increase sales’ ( IMP4).

2. Impact on Darlington Borough Council and other construction companies

A significant challenge identified by the KTP to the implementation of Herbert’s arts strategy in future developments was ‘interaction with the local authority’, and the ‘overcoming’ of the ‘authority’s concerns’ ( IMP1). As a solution, the Landscape, Arts and Biodiversity Strategy (LABS) document was created, by Darlington Borough Council ( IMP2). Herbert’s art strategy is ‘one of three foundational aspects of the document’ ( IMP7), which lays out a series of design guidelines for companies to follow in bidding for permissions to build on Westpark Garden Village, providing a lever for enabling the arts strategy to influence the practice and ethos of other companies.

The Council formally approved the outline planning application for the expanded development of Westpark Garden Village in 2017. The LABS has been used by the Council as a benchmark to test proposals from construction companies to build on the land, ensuring that ‘the attention to detail in the design of spaces, residential areas and features within them at the Westpark development provides the high quality objectives which are to be transferred over to Westpark Garden Village, whilst exploring the added opportunities that the existing farm sites currently contain’ ( IMP2).

The LABS has also defined the design code for other developers applying for permission to build on land elsewhere in Darlington, acting as a blueprint for best practice in residential development. Darlington Borough Council notes: ‘The integration of the arts strategy into the competition to develop the land of Westpark Garden Village means that it has now extended into the practice of Homes by Esh on the construction of the Stag House site, and Barratt Homes, Thirteen Homes and Gentoo Homes, who signed up to Westpark’s arts strategy as part of their contracts’ ( IMP7).

These building companies have now been awarded contracts by Darlington Borough Council to develop units on the Westpark Garden Village site. The Director of B&A has highlighted that Herbert’s art strategy has encouraged new companies to develop land in the area: ‘Neither Thirteen nor Gentoo has previously built in Darlington and it is the first time that either company has built private rather than social housing’ ( IMP6). The leverage provided by the LABS has produced a significant innovation in business practice, such that developers beyond B&A have now integrated Herbert’s street names into their developments. Executive Director of ‘Homes by ESH’ observes: ‘Herbert’s text-based strategy has been foundational to our designs for Westpark Garden Village, and has informed our conversation with our architects, with planners, and with the council … Herbert’s street names and couplets are informed by research into the local cultural history and heritage of the site … The bridges we are building in the area and the sculpted earth feature respond to elements of the phase two arts strategy developed during the KTP’ ( IMP8). Similarly, the Land and Planning Co-ordinator at Gentoo Homes notes ‘by adopting the design guide and principles, and the arts strategy’s informational approach’ the ‘text-based artwork inscribes at every level of Westpark Garden Village the cultural and industrial heritage of the site’. (IMP9). Thirteen Homes note that: ‘Bill Herbert’s poetic engagement with place allows us to embark on this new phase with confidence, creating a direct, distinctive and meaningful connection with the sites on which our homes are built’ ( IMP10).

Over a period of years, Herbert’s creative-practice based research has produced an innovative, and ongoing text-based arts strategy for the regeneration of industrial wasteland, which has enabled residents to re-imagine their relationship to their heritage and surroundings. His creative practice research has led to an arts strategy that has clearly set the work of B&A apart from their regional competitors and enabled the company to develop a stronger sense of coherence and identity. Through Darlington Borough Council, Herbert’s strategy has also now been adopted by construction companies more widely. The Director of B&A has noted that Herbert’s research has given the company ‘a unique selling point, which distinguished our work from housing developments both regionally and nationally. Herbert’s bespoke poetic engagement with place allows us to avoid the reproduction of anonymous, undifferentiated housing, by creating a direct, distinctive and meaningful connection with the sites on which new homes are built’ ( IMP6).